Pakistan army chief to visit Tehran amid stalled talks

TEHRAN — Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, will visit Iran on Tuesday, the semi-official Iranian Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday. The visit comes amid stalled talks, according to Al Arabiya, which carried the same report on its Telegram channel.

The sources do not give details of the talks or of who Munir will meet. Tasnim's report, as carried by Middle East Eye, does not describe the purpose of the trip. Neither the Pakistani military nor the Iranian government has publicly confirmed the visit in the material available to Zenga News.

The Al Arabiya post, published on Telegram, gives the same date for the visit and describes the talks as stalled. The post is unverified and does not name the parties involved in the talks. Zenga News has not confirmed the post's account independently.

It is not clear which talks have stalled or what issues they concern. The sources do not say whether the visit is linked to any specific negotiation between Pakistan and Iran, or to other diplomatic efforts in the region.

Background

Asim Munir is the chief of army staff of Pakistan. He holds the top military post in the country, which has a long history of direct involvement in foreign and security policy. Pakistan and Iran share a border of more than 900 kilometres, and the two governments have held regular contact on security matters over many years.

Tasnim is widely seen as close to Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Its reports are often published before official confirmation, and officials do not always comment on them.

Zenga News will update this report if the Pakistani military, the Iranian government or other officials confirm the visit or describe its purpose.